At first glance, Sony has clearly put the emphasis on 4K Broadcasting with an outlook at HDR at NAB 2016. Several new firmware upgrades and products have been introduced. New AXS-R7 Recorder allows double the framerate, paid firmware upgrade for Sony Fs5 users which includes RAWas well 4K DCI recording, a new compact camera Sony PXW-Z150 with broadcast-ready standards and a new broadcast camera with ultra slow motion in 4K. Here are all the updates at a glance.
AXS-R7 Recorder
The in February announced AXS-R7 Recorder will work only with the Sony F5 / 55 and still has no price. The AXS-R7 Recorder will feature its own compressed 16 Bit RAW format called XCON, which reduces the file size by 30 percent (compared to uncompressed RAW at F5 / 55). Compared to previous Sony 4K recorders, the new recorder doubles 4K RAW recording from 60 FPS up to 120 FPS from the Sony F55 camera. For shooting at higher frame rates, the recorder captures 2K RAW at up to 240 FPS from the F55 and F5, for playback with 10x super slow motion.
The new AXS media (512GB or 1TB cards) will have a sustained read and write speeds of 4.8 Gbps, and will last for 44 minutes at 59.94p or 22 minutes at 120 FPS.
FS5 Firmware Update
The FS5 has received a new free firmware 2.0 update. An Auto ND function changes the strength of the electronic ND filter, which allows you to adjust exposure without affecting aperture of shutter speed values. They have also expanded zebra functions as well as GPS capability. Those who wish to record RAW with the FS5 must acquire the RAW upgrade option for 600 dollars. This then allows though the 3G-SDI connector continuous DCI 4K 60p / 50p RAW and up to 240p / 200p RAW in FullHD.
Unlike the Fs7, the FS5 has another trick up its sleeve. According to Alvaro Ortiz Sanz, product specialist at Sony, the Fs5 can record 120fps in RAW DCI 4K with a 4second buffer!!!
The default super slomo feature in FS5 works over a buffer. That’s why it is “cached”: about 8 seconds if shooting at 240 fps. Now, this “caché way” is only applied if we shoot 4K at 120 fps, in which we’ll have 4 seconds burst. That means that, if at 24p recording, we are shooting 120/24=5 times faster, which means that those 4 seconds are “time stretched” to 20 seconds. In 4K in RAW quality
The updates will be expected in June 2016.
Sony PXW- Z150 Compact Camera
The PXW-Z150 features a 1.0 type stacked Exmor RS CMOS image sensor. It can record 4K and 5x slow motion (120fps) of continuous recording in Full HD. The Clear Image Zoom technology operates at 24x zoom and 18x zoom in HD and 4K modes respectively, in addition to the standard optical 12x zoom. It also features a built-in 4-step ND filter. The PXW-Z150 is suitable for a variety of environments and editing requirements, supporting the conventional broadcasting format MPEG2HD (50Mbps/35Mbps) in addition to Sony’s advanced XAVC format (Long GOP) format. The PXW-Z150 provides a wide variety of built-in connectivity options including 3G-SDI, XLR inputs, and HDMI. The camcorder is equipped with two memory card slots and is compatible with SDXC and SDHC cards. The dual media slots enable various recording options such as backup, simultaneous and relay recording.
Sony HDC-4800
The new Sony HDC-4800 is a new Super 35mm 4K CMOS sensor broadcast camera that features a PL Mount. It combines 4K resolution with enhanced high frame rate capabilities—8x at 4K, and up to 16x in full HD—combined with HD cut-out and zoom capabilities for live sports and event production. The HDC-4800 is complemented by the BPU-4800, a baseband processor unit with a replay server capability that creates a fully networked, 4K live ultra-high speed production workflow.

As anticipated, Sony got us off to a flying start at IBC. They have many new announcements, with everything from a new monitor, to two new cameras to a firmware update for the F5, all sharing the same theme – 4K.
Lets have a look at what they brought us.
Sony PXW-FS7
We have an exclusive hands on video of this camera. It’s everything a previous Sony camera wasn’t – an ergonomic dream.
The FS7 is a super35mm 4K camera, capable of shooting 10-bit 4:2:2 60p in 4K, and up to 180fps in 1080p. The camera will sit between the FS700 and F5, replacing no camera in Sonys current line up. Check out our dedicated exclusive article here.
Sony 28-135mm F4 G OOS lens
This lens came in conjunction with the PXW-FS7 release. This is a professional e-mount zoom lens, with a constant aperture of f/4. The lens features optical image stabilization, hard stop focus ring, proper aperture ring, and zoom rocker. check out our dedicated article here.
Sony F5 Firmware Update
I must admit, when I first heard of the Sony FS7, it sounded like they could’ve closed the door of the F5, leaving the new camera to sit directly under the F55. But no, Sony has provided a firmware update to the F5 which will enable 4K recording internal. We knew the camera could do this, so it’s great to see Sony embracing the technology rather than just closing the loop hole others found! Below is Sony press on the upgrade, which will cost around $1000.
Sony CBK-55BK Shoulder Mount Dock for F5/55
Further more on F5/55 news, Sony announced a new shoulder mount dock for the super35mm duo. The dock requires no cables, and adds ENG ergonomics by offering white balance, gain and shutter controls on the front block.
The rear block provides balanced XLR audio in, headphone out and wireless audio. Sony are pushing this product alongside their B4 to PL lens mount to provide the ultimate 35mm ENG setup for news and documentaries.
Sony PXW-X200
The Sony PXW-X200 is an update to the current workhorse PMW-200 that further embeds Sonys new XAVC codec across its entire line. This means the camera will record XAVC Intra/Long GOP recording in 4:2:2 10-bit. Also is a longer 17x zoom lens, providing 29.3mm to 499mm 35mm equivalent.
The new 1/2″ 3CMOS camera will also feature a host of wireless connectivity including NFC (near field communication) and live streaming. The latter will work with a firmware update and additional USB dongle; Sony displayed this feature during their conference streaming to a presenter in Amsterdam centre; watching this stream through a stream left no grounds for judgement however.
Sony BVM-X300 4K monitor
Sony also released a new 30″ 4K monitor. The BVM-X300 is an OLED RGB 10 bit reference monitor, utilizing TRIMASTER™ technology.
“Sony’s exclusive TRIMASTER™ technology architecture, achieving excellent colour and picture quality reproduction, which makes this monitor ideal for 4K cinema production (onset monitoring, dailies and editing), 4K live production (camera control, program preview) and real-time 4K presentation.”
If you’re attending IBC, be sure to check out the Sony booth with their latest releases (if you can get to it through the crowds of people!). If you’re not, don’t worry we’ll be bringing you all the latest and most exciting news along with another series of our On The Couch show.

Paul Ream from ExtraShot.co.uk claims to have managed to record 4K internally in the popular Sony F5 camera. That’s big news as internal 4K recording in the XAVC codec is one of Sony’s major USPs for the F5’s bigger brother, the F55. (Another one is the F55’s global shutter. Read and watch my extensive Sony F55 review by clicking here.)

Sony’s professional cinema cameras the Sony F5 and Sony F55 have been quite popular among filmmakers and documentarists alike. With the new upgrades Sony addresses many of the things that will make their work and workflow much more ergonomic and offers the option to upgrade an F5 to become an F55.

Today, Sony announced that their popular F5 and F55 cameras will be able to directly record in ProRes and DNxHD in the future (no time frame given).
These are huge news for people working in broadcast. ProRes in all its flavors is the de facto standard editing codec on the Mac, especially under Final Cut Pro 7 and Final Cut Pro X. DNxHD on the other hand is Avid’s editing codec. While both Avid and Final Cut Pro X can handle different codecs, they simply work better with their respective “native” codecs.

cinema5D had a chance to test the new Sony F55, Sony’s new flagship 4K cinema camera. As a reference we used Canon’s most advanced HDSLR.
The F55 is an interesting camera, because it is one that ticks more boxes than any other camera over the past few years – the range of resolutions, frame rates, codecs as well as the ergonomics are unprecedented. Now it’s down to actually using it to make a judgement call.
We wanted to know how the camera performs in a normal sooting environment and took the Canon EOS 1DC 4K HDSLR with us for comparison. Some interesting conclusions can be drawn here, things you might consider if you plan on shooting with either of these cameras or would just like to see what to expect.
You can download (1GB) and watch the source video in 4K on vimeo: LINK

This is a guest post by Nino Leitner. Read on for a full in depth look at Sony’s new cinema line of cameras.
Introduction
After teasing us for ages, Sony today announced what has already been all over town:
The Sony F5 & F55 cameras were just announced, alongside an entire range of workflow infrastructure that goes along with. It is one of the most massive announcements of new cameras to date, with Sony showing of a lot of “F” squarely aimed at challenging Red with their Epic, Canon with their C300/C500 and even Arri with their Alexa. Sony is truly flexing their muscles and showing off what they do best, providing entire production pipelines to go along with their cameras.